Spills Out is a satisfying album that puts a unique spin on otherwise trite indie-pop touchstones and a marriage of dissonance and charm seamless enough that, at times, it's almost difficult to tell one from the other.

The honesty behind Hello Sadness is remarkable and incredibly appealing.

The full blown cathartic experience that many savor through a live set sometimes mishits on the album, but not so much to be trash-bin worthy.

Take Care does a beautiful job of giving Drake the best group of features that complement his style while rarely outshining him.

It'll be difficult to find many albums (regardless of genre) that stimulates as many emotions as Camp. Years of hard work and perseverance from Glover has finally paid off and Camp is the culmination of all that, making this one of the best albums of 2011.

So it is in just nine short songs, Kinsella has crafted something deeply resonant, deeply impacting and most importantly, timeless.

Tarot Classics so efficiently sets to buoyant, energetic music a viewpoint that is not only discontent but increasingly disinterested. And it's all somewhat hidden, because party tunes these can still be.

There's a determination in the undertone of the album. That determination in crafting of a band's best record to date, only covered by the confidence it lets off as well.

Though it is probably not Coldplay's best, it is indeed a memorable listen and another chapter for a band whose place in rock music is firmly cemented.

When Best Intentions closes, the rapid growth of the young band does not go unnoticed at all.

Youth Lagoon will never reproduce anything like The Year of Hibernation. I think in 2011, this is called The Bon Iver Effect. The result of fame is that Powers will never be in this place again. But maybe that's best.

Make no mistake, Indestructible Machine is the sound of promise, the sound of hope and ultimately the sound of something truly special unfolding.

The best thing about Lenses Alien: its incessant begging for you to spin it again.

Every song on Soul Punk bleeds confidence and assurance--that these songs are what Patrick Stump is happy creating--music that he's proud of.

In the Pit of the Stomach is truly a feel-better record--in whatever way that resonates with you.

It'll be difficult to find many albums that can top the type of creativity Odd Soul contains, making it one of the essential must-have albums of 2011.

The Hunter is another polarizing yet captivating (and incredibly fun) effort from one of the most talented bands in modern metal.

All in all, People and Things hits home as an almost surprisingly diverse record from Jack's Mannequin.

The Whole Love is much more encompassing of everything vital in the Wilco catalog, the twangy, the noisy, and yes, a little of the leisurely.

Gravity The Seducer has its fair share of tremendous moments, but unfortunately those moments begin to lose their gloss when entangled with fragments of inconveniently placed filler.

If you have the patience to wait and persevere until Paradise fully blossoms with you into something spectacular, rest assured, it will be a record that won't stop giving when it finally does.

A hard-hitting, purely enjoyable album from South Florida's proudest sons.

It's one of the most organic and genuine albums of 2011.

Agitations makes wrecking balls out of playground jacks in that it uses the same amount of destructive velocity as it does stimulate youth.

It's a fun album with lyrics that, while they are not exactly impressive, apply to me and are fun to sing out loud.

This is the best record released so far this year, and there very likely will not be one that can top it.

Whether it was "the right way" or not, all of the days that we have waited for Neighborhoods have been well worth it.

The Jayhawks are still crafting music that should be emulated. And that in and of itself is why Mockingbird Time is worth its 50 minutes.